My boyfriend, who is 18, got drunk and yelled at me, a 19-year-old. How should I handle this situation?
I’ve never posted on Reddit before, but I really need some advice. My boyfriend (18M) and I (19F) have been together for about two and a half years. Overall, our relationship has been good, with the occasional argument, and he did break up with me briefly at our one-year mark. I recognize that I wasn’t the best partner during that time, but we got back together soon after and things have been mostly fine. Lately, though, I’ve felt a bit “disconnected” from him, while he doesn’t seem to perceive it the same way. Last weekend, we were hanging out with friends and drinking. My boyfriend drank a bit too much and ended up throwing up. He asked to be left alone in the bathroom, so I tried to check on him every 15 minutes. One of his friends was also in the bathroom having a tough time, which made me anxious about him ending up in a bad situation, too. However, each time I went in, he would yell at me to “stop fucking talking” and “get the fuck out.” He’s only behaved like this once before while drunk, and I found it really upsetting. After about an hour and a half, I decided it was time to get him out of the bathroom. I can’t just leave him there; it’s not something I’d feel comfortable doing. When I tried to help him up, he pushed me away, telling me to “stop fucking touching me.” I’ll admit I got angry because I had previously addressed how I felt about being spoken to that way when he was drunk. Despite understanding that he was inebriated, it still felt strange that this behavior has only surfaced recently. Eventually, with the help of his friends, we got him settled on the couch and everything seemed fine. The next morning, I told him I was hurt by how he treated me, and while he apologized, he also said, “Sorry, but you know I was really drunk. I didn’t even know it was you.” I understand that he wasn't fully aware, but I kept stressing that it’s not okay to talk to me like that, regardless. His responses made me feel like he wasn’t taking full responsibility for his actions. After a lot of back and forth, we discussed it again later, and he finally expressed genuine remorse. However, I still struggled to forgive him because he had spent so much time insisting it wasn’t him speaking. I didn’t want to just brush it off, especially since there are deeper issues that I haven’t fully addressed before because I’ve let things go. To take our minds off things, we spent time with friends that day and evening. Everything went well for the most part, and we steered clear of discussing the earlier incident. However, later on, while watching a music video where a character says “don’t touch me,” my boyfriend joked about it, which hit me the wrong way. It felt too soon for jokes given everything that had happened. I’m feeling conflicted. Should I just forgive him, or is it worth considering a breakup? I’ve always said I didn’t want to be with someone who would speak to me this way. Am I overreacting?